Utilisation of Generalized Audit Software

Discuss about the Utilisation of Generalized Audit Software.

Introduction

This paper introduces the most popular accounting software in Australia. Earlier all the accounting was done on the papers than computers were introduced and finally from when the internet has evolved there is no limit of space to store anything. The same is with the documents related to accounting. The most important reports are accounting reports. There are updated monthly yearly analysis is done and review is done. The market value of the company is known through these reports only. This paper also shows how the software used in accounting started how they developed in the market at what level it is used and a detailed study is made about which software is the best in the market and what are the advances to make it the best. The same limitation would be discussed with some suggestion and recommendation to improve it and overcome its limitations. There are many software’s prevailing in the Australian accounting market. Like MYOB, Quick Books Online, Reckon, Xero and much more. These are the top accounting software use in Australia. Here we will study the detail of MYOB.

Mind your own business stands for MYOB. MYOB is an Australian multinational company which provides service of tax, accounting, and other services to small and medium business. MYOB came into existence in the early 1980s by Christopher Lee. He was part of a team of software developers in Teleware Inc. data tech an Austrian software company republished MYOB products. The same company in 1997 did an agreement with the best software and purchased the company. In this, the rights of the MYOB were transferred to the best software. Later the best software name was changed to the product name as it was the best-selling product. The company new name was MYOB limited and it was listed in Australian stock exchange in the year 1999. Further the MYOB and U.S. company solution 6 holdings merged in the year 2004. The company had working outside Australia and New Zealand in the year 2008 (Anon, 2005).

MYOB has seen many changes of ownership. Finally, it was in the private hands and had good share market ratings (Ahmi and Kent, 2012). MYOB deals in subscription-based products and also in browser-based accounting products which were released in 2010. A new product which was its flagship product was introduced in the year 2012. The product was k own as AccountingRight Live. This program was the only product of its kind as it was a cloud-enabled version (Stimpson, 2007).

Comparison with other software

There are many options of accounting software in the Australian market. For example MYOB, Reckon, Quick Book Online, Money Works, Xero, Saasu etc. if we have to check which software is best it’s tough to say so as every business has its own utility. Some business may meet the inventory module but a photograph did not need an inventory module, but both are business organizations and need accounting software (Hough, 2007). A simple comparison can highlight among this software. The features can be compared to the software.

All the software has the feature of quoting accept for MYOB live. The invoicing feature is also common in this software. The feature of purchase is found useful to all that’s why available in all software. The inventory is not common for all users so MYOB live does not have this feature. To import the bank statement in the account in software was later updated in MYOB which is found to be an important feature (Anon, 2013). The calculation of payroll is not available in money works express and QuickBooks Online simple start. The MYOB live does not provide the facilities of budgeting. Thus, there are many features to compare.

The need of the organization differs there are some points on which the software can be tested. Like invoicing, BAS report, bank feeds, receiving payment. MYOB has passed the test with all these features (Withers and Howard, 2004). This advantage to have the MYOB is that it is anytime, anywhere access. This was the unique point which attracted the customers. Work from anywhere gave the employees mobility. This was a possible cause of the cloud accounting. Any device could be used to complete the work. A study stated that-approx. 42% of customers were the satisfied cause of the feature to access the data from anywhere and other 28% were happy with its feature of remote working capability (Anon, 2015).

According to the CEO of MYOB, “Cloud usage can provide a serious competitive advantage. Increasingly, businesses have terms on road, in the office and working at home. The power of the cloud provides the freedom to work anywhere at any time, to be with your customers, partners, and suppliers while still enjoying a connection to the Office” This feature to work anytime anywhere gave a positive response to the organization as it strengthens the employees reducing their stress.

Challenges or limitations

This research highlights the limitations of the best accounting software. These limitations have limited the working of the companies.

Old fashioned working or outdated working style- In today’s world when the work has expanded and the no of employed is multiplied and such a facility to work at home or anywhere is boosting the speed of business. In such a case the MYOB has the feature to calculate every data at the end of the month. It’s not possible to collect the data as easily as it distributed at many outlets (Anon, 2016).

Time-consuming in the collection of data- As a facility of work from anywhere anytime gave facility to the employees but it created an issue with the companies as it’s too difficult to collect the data when required. Everyone has their own working time and place which is a hurdle for the company accounting (Hamilton, 2011).

Accounting for loss in business- the online update on of stocks is not possible with MYOB. In small organizations earlier when the sticky was updated through emails or prints these companies were more update and satisfied.

Lacking user-friendly- this is the most important lacking with MYOB. As it does not give space to make changes according to the business, in fact, the business details have to change according to the software. Many spreadsheets are to be made in link either MYOB to fill in the gaps of the company accounting (Ivancevich, Ivancevich and Elikai, 2010).

Updates are frequent and costly - there are frequent updates in the software which keeps the management business busy in monitoring and updating the changes. This involves a huge cost and the focus deviates from sales to software updates.

Cost of the software- the MYOB maintains high security from the vulnerable to hackers, frauds, and other threats (Curtis, 2015). This is the only software which spends 46% of the revenue on the security. This results in the high cost of the product for its users.

Recommendations

It is analyses that the MYOB software is the best in the industry with some limitations. On the study of this limitation, it can be said that these are not many critical issues. The management is working on the improvement of these limitations. Updates are made in the software to make it user-friendly and to collect the data as and when required.

Conclusion

The research has proved that MYOB has adopted corrections and updates in its latest versions. Just cause of some limitations this accounting software cannot be overlooked. It’s the best in the market with the best security than any other software. It can be said to be the best software of accounting in Australia.

References

Ahmi, A. & Kent, S., 2012. The utilisation of generalized audit software (GAS) by external auditors. Managerial Auditing Journal, 28(2), pp.88–113.

Anon, 2005. Leading.(MYOB Retail Manager, accounting software)(Brief Article). New Zealand Marketing Magazine, 24(6), p.43.

Anon, 2013. New Accounting Software Built for Today's Commercial Challenges. M2 Presswire, pp.M2 Presswire, Aug 1, 2013.

Anon, 2015. Improving the software system for accounting utilities "VisualService" and modify the software in the operation. Mena Report, pp.Mena Report, May 28, 2015.

Anon, 2016. Australia : Andy Lark departs global role with accounting software company. Mena Report, pp.Mena Report, Oct 31, 2016.

Curtis, V., 2015. MYOB software for dummies 8th Australian., Richmond, Victoria: John Wiley & Sons Australia.

Hamilton, T., 2011. Back-office Carbon Accounting-Outsourcing for the Utilities Sector. Electric Light and Power, 89(1), pp.41,43.

Hough, Vanessa, 2007. Manage your money: give your business cheques a personal touch by adding your logo in MYOB.(MYOB Accounting Plus, accounting software). Australian PC World, p.118.

Ivancevich, Susan, Ivancevich, Daniel & Elikai, Fara, 2010. Accounting Software Selection and Satisfaction. The CPA Journal, 80(1), pp.66–72.

Stimpson, J., 2007. Taking Full Advantage of Accounting Software. The Practical Accountant, 40(5), pp.30–33.

Withers, Stephen & Howard, Catherine, 2004. Accounting software. Australian Personal Computer, 24(7), p.68.